F1/ Formula E/ Motorsport Thread

Because otherwise the restart would be carnage, with slower lapped cars spread out through the field.

 

Good to see Norris on the podium again and hopefully we now finally have a proper fight between Verstappen and Hamilton.

13th June looking good - England v Croatia at 2 pm and the Canadian GP at 7 pm.

 

Well that was a dull race...

 

If you can't win properly, cheat.

 

Yep. The British Michael Schumacher gets away with it yet again. Leclerc decided finishing second was better than getting shanked into the tyres by the dirty scumbag.

 

He didn’t get away with it. He got a penalty for a borderline racing incident. Max should have stopped weaving all over the place.

 

Red Bull get right on my ****, they are such whinny bitches

It was a racing incident between a driver defending aggressively and a driver attacking aggressively, lets have more of the same please

 

It was at best a racing incident, and at worst Hamilton’s fault, and a minor punishment, for not taking a slightly tighter line (with Verstappen also slightly at fault for weaving around).

It’s a bit like going down under a slight touch in the box. I’d prefer referees treated minimal comings together as accidents, but modern sport wants to avoid contact at all costs.

Mercedes and Red Bulls bitching all felt a bit El Classico I.e. a complete embarrassment.

 

Hamilton is a formidable competitor and a winner. In my view, it was a racing incident. It baffles me that he is not universally adored by British sports fans. Max will win titles, because he is also fiercely competitive. I am not British, but have huge respect for Lewis.

 

Lol he's been winning properly for 7 years. Never understood the dislike towards Lewis by so many, he is one of the greatest British sportsmen of all time.

 

British sports fans have never liked success. See the love for Bruno, over the indifference for Lennox Lewis, the admiration of Tiger Tim, and the distrust of Murray.

The British public adore a sporting also ran, who goes some way but then fails gloriously.

 

Sadly, the bit I've put in bold probably answers your own question. It is exactly why he is so disliked.

 

Great win by Lewis, he is the GOAT though. Thought Verstappen was far too aggressive and probably deserved what he got after trying to squeeze Lewis off the road like that but its probably his inexperience at this level. I think the rest of the season will be quite spicey now.

 

I think the reason why some don't like Hamilton is that he's made recent years a bit boring by being absolutely brilliant, although you wouldn't have known any different yesterday as he did have the overwhelming support of the crowd. Good to see both Norris and Russell getting some love from the British fans too, two potential champions there!

Game on for the championship which is always a good thing, hopefully we see more of the same in the future.

 

'Michael, did you get my E-Mail?'

 

Hamilton has backed off from an aggressive Max several times already this season. Yesterday he didn't. About bl**dy time Lewis, bravo sir.

This x 10.

 

Lewis Hamilton racially abused online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/57885011

Is it just me who wonders why such a small minority of morons get huge publicity every time this happens rather than said morons being hunted down and prosecuted?

 

If you watch Max's driving from the start his weaving was borderline out of order as well. He's Known for it. I'm no Hamilton fan but that was a racing incident imho and a bit harsh on Hamilton. People are just kicking off because it was a very fast corner, one which aparently no-one overtakes up the inside on according to prime whiner Horner, then Hamilton goes and pulls the same move on at least 2 other people without incident.

 

Hamilton had a phase of being a bit of an arse once he got really suyccesful. People got a bit fed up of his "lifestyle". To be honest you need to be full of confidence and maybe even arrogance to get the success he has in probably the most highly paid competitive sport in the world so I don't blame him.
He's mellowed a bit in recent years and got a bit more likeable again.

The nice guys seem to always come off second best, like Herbert, Button, Hill, Webber. All conducted themselves as gentlemen and never really maximised their potential.

Schumacher, Senna, Prost went through the airhole stage.

 

Hamilton isn't known for being overly aggressive either, where as Max is. He was very aggressive in Imola, Portimao and Barcelona and each time Hamilton backed off to avoid a crash. Lewis had to be more aggressive as well. If Max won then its an even harder job to make a dent into the his points total.

With regards to fans not liking Lewis, there wasn't a whiff of that at Silverstone. I would say it was a 50/50 split between Merc(Lewis) and McLaren(Lando) merchandise on display from the spectators. Wasn't impressed that Williams had next to nothing mind, even with a very decent young British driver, goes to show how fickle the support is if you're not towards the top of the standings.

 

I watched the race with a someone who really isn't that into F1 and he was really surprised by how Hamilton was after the race. He'd heard the media spin that he's sullen, and unpatriotic, and really not that engaging. And then saw this bloke who was going absolutely wild, running around with the flag and trying to get as close as possible to the crowd. And who spoke well afterwards too.

 

I have not paid too much attention to his lifestyle, but if you are a top, young, rich F1 driver, there is bound to be a lavish element to your lifestyle and who would blame him. His success in his sport is truly phenomenal. You rarely get to that level without some ruthlessness, self indulgence and arrogance. As mentioned above, I have great time for him as a sportsman. To be fair, my view of him outside the sport is also positive. He seems a decent man, but I have never met him.

 

I don't agree to the dislike of Hamilton when its mentioned he doesn't pay taxes and lives in the tax haven of Monaco. Most of these drivers live their and I'm sure a lot of these people like Jenson but conveniently ignore that he also lives in Monaco too.

 

To be fair there's a community of them out there and when you're earning all over the world I'd actually argue that it would be pretty silly not to live somewhere more central and tax efficient.

I read a story in one of the bigraphies I have, I think about Gerhard Berger. He crashed during the Monaco GP and just hopped over the fence and went home, much to the chagrin of his team who spent an hour trying to track him down.

Most of the teams are UK based and hence will be paying UK taxes, which is a good thing.

 

That got me thinking motorsport biographies

A few I've read which were very good.

Murray Walker - of course.
Eddie Jordan's was very good. Never really liked him as a personality but it's a good read.
Mansell's is excellent as well.
I've read a few more, Button, Hill etc. mainly brits, but those 3 are the pick imho.

I managed to dig up a copy of Alessandro Zanardi's 2nd hand but not got round to reading that yet. He's a really interesting character.

 

As an overall point, F1 drivers spend next to no time in their home country. They fly from city to city for most of the year.

The majority of F1 drivers live in Monaco, because they are surrounded by friends (and sometimes family), it is a very wealthy place with lots of convenience, and because they get huge tax benefits.

You might argue that if they weren't from the country they originated from, they probably wouldn't have made it to where they are today. But I can see why if you use next to no public services in a country and barely even visit it, paying 50% of your salary to that country might seem pretty excessive (especially if your friends are paying next to nothing).

On an individual level, I completely agree there is a huge double standard.